The Passover Story in Brief
On Passover, we commemorate the exodus from Egyptian slavery. The following is a brief summary: Jacob's family came to Egypt to escape a famine in Canaan. Joseph, Jacob's son and the…
Educating American Girls
When Vichna Kaplan (1913 - 1986) arrived in America in 1937, her experiences confirmed the country’s reputation as a place where Jewish tradition was in danger. This was particularly true…
The Jew Who Played for Germany
It is impossible to imagine what the thoughts of Rudi Victor Ball were when high ranking Nazi officials asked him to rejoin his German ice hockey teammates and play for Germany in the…
A Day for Publishers
The American world of books and letters owes a great deal to the date of September 12th, for on this date, in 1891 and 1892, two giants of the American publishing industry were born:…
The Jewish Legion
On August 23, 1917, the British government announced that they would create a military unit specifically for Jewish enlistees. The goal of the British government was to recruit the…
As the Wind Blows
The Torah is full of fascinating, unexpected and, some might say, poetic connections. Many of these associations are not obvious because they are spread throughout the many texts of…
Passover Story in Brief
On Passover, we commemorate the exodus from Egyptian slavery. The following is a brief summary: Jacob's family came to Egypt to escape a famine in Canaan. Joseph, Jacob's son and the…
Young Man…
The Jewish community has an incredible penchant for organizing and for creating organizations. Indeed, American Jewish life is an alphabet soup of acronyms, and one of the best-known is…
Rahel the Poetess
The poetry of Rahel has been described as both lyrical and sad, reflecting the challenges of her relatively brief life and her passion for the Land of Israel. Rahel Bluwstein Sela…
The Case of the Poisoned Dish
The only narratives included in the Torah are those that help us understand who the Children of Israel are. While some stories are detailed, others are written very much like outlines.…